


Painting My Way to Serenity

by Akinasky



Series: SterekBingo 2020 [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, COVID 19, Coronavirus, First Date, First Kiss, M/M, Mistaken Identity, One Shot, SterekBingo 2020, because I said so, dealing with isolation, penpal, reconnection, sterekbingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24465886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akinasky/pseuds/Akinasky
Summary: Stiles goes to a virtual paint party and it changes his isolation into something more tolerable.
Relationships: Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: SterekBingo 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1729129
Comments: 2
Kudos: 90





	Painting My Way to Serenity

The way it started was odd, Kira wanted to do this paint night thing where everyone got together and they all painted with the help of a teacher. The canvas, brushes, paint and paper towels and everything was going to be provided and it was set.

Then Coronavirus swept the nation and everything changed.

For Kira and her painting birthday party, this meant that they were going to use an online video meeting platform and they would need all the stuff. Scott and Kira joined happy-go-lucky forces and found everything they were going to need and decided what houses and where everyone was going to be.

The werewolves invited to the party included Scott, Liam, Hayden, Isaac and Jackson (though Jackson was only really doing this because Lydia was forcing him to and was counting is as one of their date nights or something – seriously do not ask about what was going on between those two because Jackson was bisexual and sleeping with guys but also sleeping with Lydia. It was a poly thing apparently), Erica and Boyd.

Anyway, the werewolves didn’t have to worry about getting sick because they were immune to human diseases, couldn’t catch or carry it but this was California, to close to the bigger cities not to be affected. Scott and Kira were together with Isaac at the McCall’s house, Erica and Boyd were hanging out at the Reyes house because Boyd was there when they were all told to stay put and the Boyd’s didn’t really mind that he was with his girlfriend of three years.

Liam and Hayden were hanging out with Corey and Mason, making this a double date and Stiles was sure that everyone was going to get more paint on them than on the canvas at that house. Allison wasn’t going to join because of the time difference in Europe but she sent Kira a gift and her gratitude for the invite. She promised to make it home for the next one.

And Stiles was alone at the Stilinski place, because that’s how things went. Dad was working from home because of his age and possible heart condition that they had been watching for the past three months and because so many of the pack mates were paired up, there was just no way Stiles was going anywhere when they were supposed to be in isolation.

Scott delivered the paints, canvas and brushes to Stiles a couple hours before and he was set up and accessing the link to the meeting they were all going to be in and suddenly his screen was full of familiar faces all smiling and talking over each other while the painter in charge of the session started explaining what they were going to be doing. She showed them how to place the canvas on whatever they were working on, what paints they were going to need and then started the class.

Kira was so excited that Stiles couldn’t help smiling as she followed along and Scott asked a million questions and the others traded between canoodling and painting.

Then half way through the painting, this one was of a fox and a wolf becoming friends in a simple forest locale (which was a little more blatant than Stiles would have gone) when he noticed there was an unread message in the chat.

Stiles frowned as he hovered his arrow over the ‘chat’ and clicked on it, there was an ‘unknown participant’ saying: _‘Good to see you again, message me at DisforDisenchanted on WhatsApp.’_

Stiles frowned, fumbling with his phone and opened the app, searching the name and adding it to his friends list, missing the next painting step and having to catch up after figuring out what was going on.

 _‘who is this?’_ Stiles tapped out and sent on his other device.

Stiles allowed the class to pull his focus again and they finished the painting steps in another half hour before everyone wished Kira a happy birthday ( _‘we are not singing on this meeting, thank you’_ came from multiple people) and they promised to FaceTime or chat with each other the next day. Stiles posted the finished picture on his social media page since he was quite proud of it despite the fact that the fox and the wolf were about the same size and the trees were more like twigs after a fire or green blobs, nothing fancier than that.

Still, he finished it. Plus, Stiles actually enjoyed the semi calm feeling that swept over him at the prospect of each step and enjoyed having something tangible to show for it.

His phone jangled with a new message and he picked up his phone to see another link, to another paint event and he immediately clicked on the link to check it out. It was a picture of a city skyline and it was set for two evenings from now. Stiles went back to the app, _‘what’s this about?’_

The answer came swiftly, _‘Join me on another paint event and maybe you’ll find out.’_

And that was way more tantalizing that Stiles could handle, he didn’t really know what was going on or who may have been invited to Kira’s party that the rest of them didn’t know but then, the person said that he at least knew Stiles well enough to say it was nice to see him again.

Maybe it was Danny, the ‘D’ in the person’s username was a good indication. Danny had been at college when Covid got really bad and he decided to stay with family and wasn’t able to return to Beacon Hills.

Danny knew about Stiles’s bisexuality, had been a close confidant all throughout the discovery process and the acceptance and though they hadn’t talked for a while, Stiles knew that Danny was a good guy. This disenchanted sounded right up Danny’s alley as well, he was always disenchanted about something or someone. Maybe he broke up with his boyfriend and needed a friend.

Or maybe he just wanted a painting buddy.

Stiles signed up for the city scape painting event, glad that Scott told him in passing where he could get all of the stuff he needed for another painting and told his dad about the fact that he was going to be an amateur painter.

“Sounds good son, as long as you aren’t in the middle of crime scenes and you are doing what you can to stay healthy in this pandemic, I don’t mind you trying new things. I think it’s good for you.”

Stiles nodded, put together a shopping list for delivery the next day and planned breakfast and lunch for his dad. Thinking about _‘DisforDisenchanted’_ and the purpose of being coy about who it was.

Stiles pulled out his phone and opened the conversation and started tapping at the keys, _‘How is everything after the semester ended, did you pass all your courses with flying colors? I am actually glad that I was taking online courses because it meant that nothing really changed overnight. When did you decide you wanted to be artistic, I figured you were just a numbers and code kind of guy. Though I have to say that I don’t mind seeing this side of you.’_

Stiles waited about five minutes and the little ‘delivered’ didn’t even turn to ‘read’ so he put his phone away and finished up with the few chores that needed to be done before heading to bed, if Danny was going to be coy and not say anything until the next paint event then Stiles had no reason to wait up and kill his hard won sleep schedule.

Stiles was ready this time for the paint event to start when he clicked on the link and the meeting came to life on his screen, there were a couple of boxes with people, some with just one and a few with more than one person who were taking part and there were a few boxes that were blank because the person chose not to engage their video.

Danny was behind one of them, Stiles guessed.

The painter got started on the background and the night sky and the little chat notification popped up again and Stiles raced to click on it, fumbling a little in the process until he say the other people asking questions and telling everyone where they were from while the teacher interacted with the questions and information but one popped up that said ‘Unknown User to Stiles S Private’: _‘I appreciate the message though I think you may have me confused with someone else. Though I do tend to like numbers, I don’t know much of anything about code and I finished my degree last year.’_

Stiles frowned, maybe it wasn’t Danny?

With that mystery still to be figured out, Stiles went back to the painting instruction and allowed that stillness to slide through his mind and into his hands, allowed the simple instructions from the person to wash over him while he followed each instruction and when the painting was finished, Stiles made sure to tip the artist for their time and then opened the WhatsApp on his phone to see another message.

_‘Stiles, I’m not quite ready for you to know who I am, maybe we can just get to know each other a little better.’_

_‘But you said it was nice to see me again, which would mean that we’ve met before?’_

He watched the little dots pulse while the other person typed; _‘Are you the same person you were when you were sixteen?’_

Stiles thought about that for a few minutes, _‘I suppose I’m not. Well as long as our conversations remain on this app or through the meeting platform so I know when and how I am giving you my information again.’_

Dad would kill him if he didn’t try to stay safe on the internet, Stiles didn’t really think he was being Catfished or whatever but one could never be too careful with mystery people on the internet. Even if they were someone he went to school with.

Or maybe someone from the pack that he didn’t have contact with anymore. There were a couple that kept in contact with others in the pack but not necessarily Stiles. He didn’t think it was Malia just because she wasn’t a huge fan of technology and she was off somewhere with Peter, getting to know each other for real for the first time since learning about each other.

Peter and Malia.

The Hales… Stiles thought, Cora and Derek. Maybe it was Derek. Stiles wanted it to be Derek, a little. Okay he wanted that a lot and he was an idiot for thinking it was at all possible. No, it was probably Greenberg, Kira always did have a kind heart.

Stiles pulled up Kira’s text conversation and asked, _‘who all did you invite to the paint event?’_

Kira sent a message with at least thirty names on it, many of them they all went to school with, others that Kira and Scott knew from their college but not Derek Hale.

There went that possibility.

Well maybe this secret person was someone that Stiles could get to know and they might have something in common and it might be more than just message on the internet. For now though, he would get to know the other person at their pace.

For the next eight weeks, Stiles and his ‘Unknown User’ had twelve more paint events, varying from landscapes, nature to animals and even a couple of painting on flower boxes and wine glasses. Stiles figured some of these were going to make good presents, there was one with a mermaid that surprised Stiles when his secret friend sent him the link and they sent with the link, _‘Might make a good present for Lydia, kind of could be a Siren’_.

Stiles didn’t know if that was true but he liked the idea of a funny homemade gift for the same girl he tried to give a flat screen TV to when she turned nineteen. They might have been nothing more than friends for years but that didn’t stop Stiles from ridiculous spending when it came to a few of his close friends.

In between the paint events, Stiles just talked to ‘D’, telling him about what it was like going to college close to home even though his dad wanted him to go wherever he wanted to. Stiles told him about Scott and Kira and the bets on whether they were going to get pregnant, engaged or if they were going to move into their own place.

_‘I don’t think they know about it though a few of us have been almost caught and I’m pretty sure engaged or pregnant is going to win out, honestly my money’s on pregnant then engaged, they aren’t very smart about contraception. I’m surprised her parents haven’t shot him yet.”_

‘D’ sent a laughing emoji at that.

Stiles told ‘D’ about all the weird crap that happened during senior year since ‘D’ seemed to know about the supernatural though there were a lot of things in town that even the most normal of normies understood there was something going on.

He told ‘D’ what it was like when he disappeared and the hurt he felt when his dad forgot who he was, Scott and everyone else forgetting that was one thing while his father forgetting him had destroyed Stiles even though he knew it wasn’t the man’s fault.

It may have been one of the reasons he couldn’t leave Beacon Hills and his father.

‘D’ told Stiles about all the places he’d been around the country and even in other countries. D talked about his family, extended family, cousins and so on. Stiles could tell the person loved his family and was grateful in a way that only someone who’d lost people could be.

Stiles knew all about that kind of loss.

They set up another paint event for the next weekend and Stiles signed off for the night. It would be a couple days; D wasn’t going to be able to respond since he had some traveling for work or something and Stiles had to get some stuff done so it wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t like they were dating or anything.

Stiles didn’t even know if D was a man or a woman and honestly, he didn’t really care. Stiles liked them either way, though it would be nice to know a little more about them so he could imagine them walking down the sidewalk hand in hand, singing musicals and skipping.

Not that he thought about that.

Okay, maybe a little but they didn’t have to be singing or skipping but the hand holding was a thing that must happen.

Stiles was a tactile person.

The next weekend, Stiles was getting the paint and canvas ready when there was a knock on the door. He frowned, not expecting anyone to come over since Scott and he had a gaming date the next day and Lydia was going to video chat him on Monday.

Stiles walked to the front door and looked out the side window then jerked the door open, “Derek? What are you doing here?” he demanded, taking in the really large bag Derek was holding and what looked like a stretch canvas poking out. “You can’t be ‘D’! Kira didn’t invite you, didn’t even know how to invite you!”

Derek smiled and Stiles could see the person that had been talking and laughing with him through all the painting events and chats over the past weeks.

“Well, Erica sent me a link and told me that I needed to see everyone, that maybe doing something with everyone would remind me of the good that I left behind. Gotta be honest though, I really wanted to see you the most.”

Stiles grinned and invited the other man into the house and closed the door. Taking the bag Derek was holding, he placed it on the table next to the door and pressed up against Derek’s chest.

“So this is a date right?” Stiles asked.

Derek grinned, showing his little bunny teeth and making Stiles’s heart pound as he pressed a hand to Derek’s cheek, reveling in the feel of the scruff.

“I am not waiting till the end of the night to do this,” Stiles stated and pressed his lips to Derek’s in a soft kiss. Derek’s hands slid up his side and pulled Stiles closer, though he didn’t think that was possible at this point. They carried on for another few moments before Stiles’s computer started chattering with the talking from other members of the paining party and smiled at Derek.

“You’re not going anywhere right?”

Derek nodded, “Right.”

“Good,” Stiles whispered then dragged Derek into the other room, “Let’s get our paint on.”

So they did and it wouldn’t be their last.


End file.
